Conservative Student News

The College of Saint Catherine provides a wonderful education to many women, empowering them with the ability to know that anything is possible. However, many of its faculty have difficulty accepting certain viewpoints of students who may disagree with their social or political beliefs.

The faculty and students alike at St. Catherine’s are predominantly liberal, making it difficult for students who are conservative to excel. I am openly expressing what goes on at my campus to make people aware of the serious issue of bias on college campuses.

There have been several incidents at St. Catherine’s which have made conservative students feel as though they are not accepted. One incident in particular happened recently in a classroom. It was the day after the presidential election and President Bush was elected into office for a second term. Many students were upset by President Bush’s win, which is understandable, because if the tables would have been turned, Bush supporters would have been upset as well.

Unfortunately, the behavior some of the students displayed was inappropriate. The teacher asked how everyone felt about Bush’s win. Several students took the initiative to loudly voice all of their feelings—which ranged from being embarrassed and ashamed to be an American, to hating President Bush so much that they compared him to Hitler. The teacher did nothing to moderate this uprise.

As Americans, we have been given the First Amendment which guarantees every individual the right to free expression. Free expression provides us with freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. But is it possible for freedom of speech to be taken too far in a classroom setting?

Should it be okay for professors to allow students to compare the President of the United States to Hitler? Wouldn’t that be like an African American student sitting in class comparing all Caucasians to the Ku Klux Klan or a Caucasian student comparing all African Americans to the Black Panthers? Was this Constitutional, or was the teacher allowing these students to talk in this manner simply because she agreed with them politically?

The students who never spoke up in this class were the ones who voted for President Bush. They were afraid to speak up because they felt as though they would be attacked and that their beliefs might adversely affect their grade. There is something terribly wrong with that. Students attend college to expand their minds and to grow as individuals, not to feel discriminated against.

Another recent incident at St. Catherine’s occurred when a student, who was under St. Catherine’s insurance, needed to get her birth control prescription from a doctor through the College. The School’s doctor told her she couldn’t get birth control through the College because it was a Catholic school. With no argument, she left, completely understanding why the College wouldn’t want to endorse birth control.

However, one week later she was walking down the sidewalk and saw several rainbows and upside-down purple triangles. When she asked what this was all about, she learned that St. Catherine’s has a “Coming Out” week for its lesbian students. She also found out that the College has drag queen shows for students to attend. She thought it very interesting how hypocritical this was.

How could the College not allow birth control because of Catholic beliefs, but allow a “Coming Out” week for lesbians? If St. Catherine’s really follows the Bible’s teachings and Catholic doctrine, then neither of these should be okay.

When the student brought this discrepancy to the attention of a faculty member, nothing was done. She was simply told that several students and some faculty on campus are lesbians and deserve equality. Everyone deserves equality, but in this situation, not everything was equal.

            Finally, I will mention an incident this year when a conservative student was sitting in a class where other students were openly making fun of Republicans during class discussion. The young woman confronted these students, saying that she took their remarks personally because she was a Republican. In front of the whole class, the instructor shook her head and said, “You don’t look like a Republican.”

The student didn’t think much of the comment until the professor asked to speak to her after class. The professor told the young woman that if she ever had another such “outburst,” it would affect her grade greatly.

The student made it her obligation to continuously wear buttons and hats that expressed her political view. She also wrote a letter to her professor expressing that she didn’t appreciate the way she had been discriminated against based on her political viewpoint. Thankfully, the professor actually responded in a very appropriate manner and apologized. She also thanked the young student for pointing out her biased actions.

             Unfortunately, not all teachers are so open-minded or willing to admit that at times they hold biased views in the classroom. So, the question is, what can students do about bias in the classroom? What is to be done when schools have double standards and simultaneously promote contradictory viewpoints?  Students must be empowered to stand up for true diversity in the classroom—a pluralistic diversity that acknowledges the legitimacy of conservative and liberal viewpoints alike.